Ex-Livermore cop pleads not guilty in sex case

Former Livermore police Officer Daniel Black pleaded not guilty Tuesday to five misdemeanor counts in connection with a sexual exploitation scandal that has led to investigations of officers with at least seven Bay Area law enforcement agencies.

Black, 49, didn’t appear at his brief hearing in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland because he only faces misdemeanor charges, which are two counts of engaging in prostitution, two counts of performing lewd acts and one count of giving alcohol to a person under 21.

Judge Tara Flanagan set Black’s bail at $15,000 and scheduled a pretrial hearing for him on October 24.

The victim in the sexual exploitation scandal, a teen who worked as a prostitute, is now seeking a total of more than $100 million in damages from multiple jurisdictions.

The teen, who is the daughter of an Oakland police dispatcher, is now 19. She’s identified in court papers as Jane Doe.

Alameda County District Attorney Inspector Jim Taranto wrote in a probable cause statement that on April 8 and 13 Black arranged to pick up Jane Doe near her home in his motorhome, taking her to dinner at a Berkeley restaurant on April 8 and to an Albany restaurant on April 13.

Taranto stated that when the conversation at the Berkeley restaurant turned sexual, Black said:

“Just to be clear, I’m not paying you, but I will buy you dinner.”

Black and the girl later engaged in oral copulation in the motorhome in a parking lot visible from the street, sexual intercourse the next morning at the same location, and Black gave her alcoholic drinks inside the vehicle, according to prosecutors.

Taranto said Black allegedly paid for their dinner at the Albany restaurant and then parked the motorhome in Berkeley in an industrial area near the waterfront, where the two engaged in oral copulation.

Retired Oakland police Sgt. Leroy Johnson, who is charged with a misdemeanor count of failing to report suspected child abuse in September 2015 after the teenager told him in a Facebook message that she had engaged in sex with other Oakland officers, was scheduled to be arraigned at the Fremont Hall of Justice today but his arraignment was postponed until Oct. 19.

Last Friday, former Contra Costa sheriff’s deputy Ricardo Perez, 28, pleaded not guilty to a felony count of oral copulation with a minor and two misdemeanor counts of engaging in lewd conduct in public for allegedly having sexual intercourse about 10 times with the alleged victim in a secluded area near Fish Ranch Road in the Oakland hills.

Oakland police Officer Brian Bunton, 40, pleaded not guilty on Sept. 23 to felony charges of obstruction of justice and engaging in prostitution.

Oakland police Officer Giovanni LoVerde, 33, was scheduled to be arraigned last week on a charge of felony oral copulation with a minor, but his arraignment was postponed until this Friday because his attorney was out of town.

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley is also expected to file charges against former Oakland police Officer Terryl Smith, who resigned in May and is expected to face four misdemeanor counts of conducting a search of official criminal justice data without an authorized purpose.

In addition, O’Malley is expected to file charges against Oakland police Officer Warit Uttapa, who is accused of the same offense.